Globacom is set to engage over 100,000 agents across Nigeria to help in its new business of bringing banking nearer to the generality of Nigerians.
Through its Moneymaster, a payment service bank which is a subsidiary of the telecom giant, Globacom, is now set to begin operations across Nigeria to deepen financial inclusion.
Announcing the commencement of the business in Lagos, Glo said Moneymaster would be leveraging mobile phones, PoS and the web to provide financial services to millions of Nigerians hitherto excluded from the financial system.
Recall that the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) had, in 2020, given Globacom’s Moneymaster the final approval to operate as a PSB alongside 9PSB and Hope PSB.
Subsequent approvals this year saw MTN MoMo and Airtel Smartcash getting similar licences.
While noting that close to 50 per cent of Nigerians do not currently have access to banking services, Glo said the PSB is aimed at helping to achieve 95 per cent financial inclusion target by 2024 set by the CBN.
Speaking at the unveiling of the business at an event tagged ‘Pushing the Frontiers’, Globacom’s Head of Enterprise Business, Zakari Usman, said: “We all know the financial inclusion challenges Nigeria is facing. As we speak right now, the inclusion rate is around 50 per cent, which means that close to 49.5 per cent of adult populations don’t have formal banking services, and to compound the matter, 82 per cent of Nigerians are currently receiving income from their income in cash.
“This is why the CBN came up with the concept of a payment service bank to help achieve financial inclusion. So, as Moneymaster, what we are bringing to the market is a simple solution, ‘G-Kala’, which turns your phone into your wallet. With the ‘G-Kala’, you can receive cash from any mobile app, you can move money to other accounts.”
“We are going to build a well-spread agent network across Nigeria with over 100,000 agents. We are also going to deploy kiosks across the country. As we speak now, thousands of kiosks are ready to be deployed. Our agents stand a chance to get additional revenue as they get SIM activation, registration incentive, and transaction incentive.”
Source: The Guardian
